How eating chicken almost ruined the career of German World Cup winner Andre Schurrle

German World Cup winner Andre Schurrle was once regarded as one the most promising players in world football. He was quick, could shoot with both his feet, had a trick or two up his sleeve and most importantly, was versatile. Schurrle could operate all across the attacking band; on the left wing, the right wing, as a No.10 and even as a striker. In his early 20’s, he had already established himself as the key player in the ranks of one of the biggest clubs in Germany Bayer Leverkusen.

A dream move to England and Chelsea then beckoned, as the manager back then, Jose Mourinho was a big fan of his qualities and work-rate. Schurrle had a good start to life in the English capital, with his eye for a goal for all to see in his first season at the club. He scored 9 crucial goals in 43 appearances. His second season though was a much more tricky affair. He could only make 22 appearances and yet managed to score 5 times, before making a move back to Germany in the January transfer window to Wolfsburg in 2015.

And Schurrle only has one thing to blame for the downward spiral in his career, chicken!

In an interview with the Sun, Schurrle who made a crucial contribution when Germany lifted the FIFA World Cup in 2014 said:

“It was a bit of chicken and I’ve never eaten chicken since. It was only me. It was an away game in Poland. You see how skinny I am so to lose three, four, five kilos it took me a really long time to get my strength back. I was being sick and really feeling like I can’t get out of bed. We found out it was salmonella. It was amazing but the second year it was just very difficult. I had bad salmonella, got really weak and coming back never got the chance to prove myself.”

Ever since departing from Chelsea, Schurrle has had a troubled history with injuries first at Wolfsburg and then at Borussia Dortmund. The winger has now moved on loan from Dortmund to Fulham in the Premier League where he has shown glimpses of his old-self scoring 3 goals in 8 appearances. Still only 28, Schurrle still has a lot to achieve in his career and make a return back into the German national team.